Political Climate of the 1980s

Politics of the 1980s

Politics of the 1980s The 1980s were marked by the election of Ronald Reagan to the presidential office . The Republican Party had succeeded in gaining control of the Senate for the first time since 1954 (Spartacus Educational , 2007 . Conservatism , the ideals and goals of the new Republican president , began to change politics , religion , and the economy of the United States . Reagan had many visions that appealed highly to social conservatives . This will discuss the political issues during the Reagan administration

During the presidential campaign of 1980

, a highly critical event was occurring under President James Carter . In the conflict between Iran and Iraq , several Americans had been taken hostage by Iran . President Carter was attempting to negotiate the release of the hostages . Is successful , this move could prove dangerous to Reagan 's campaign . After Iraq invaded Iran in September 1980 , Carter proposed a deal with Iran that would provide much needed parts and equipment in exchange for the American hostages . Because of the large amount of media coverage President Carter was unsuccessful in this attempt . Ronald Reagan however , was able to promise Iran that they would receive the parts and equipment , provided that the hostages were released . Reagan won the election against Carter . The hostages were released after Reagan was sworn into office . Reagan gained the public 's confidence by being successful where Carter could not be : getting the hostages released and returned home . William Casey , appointed by Reagan as CIA director arranged delivery of the equipment and parts to Iran . All the promises that were made to Iran , by Reagan , had been fulfilled . Unfortunately Iran now had the means to make attacks against the United States (Spartacus , 2007

Reagan 's political goals appealed to the social conservatives of the nation . Unfortunately , Reagan 's social goals did not gain as much widespread attention as his economic and military goals . Regan sought to cut taxes and increase military spending (Davidson et al , 2002

Reagan 's main goal was to weaken big government by using a supply-side economic theory . By implementing a huge tax cut , the economy would be stimulated enough to raise tax revenues . Critics argued that economic expansion would be slowed greatly . Reagan chose higher employment and weakened unions as methods to combat inflation (Davidson et al , 2002

Reagonomics , the term used to describe Reagan 's economic policies eventually led to a recession (Davidson et al , 2002 . Big corporations had to unwillingly yield regarding wages and work conditions Ultimately , the interactions between the aspects of Reagan 's policies caused conflict . Weidenbaum (1997 ) stated

Monetary restraint was the key to unwinding inflation , as well as precipitating sharp recession . Recession , in turn , delayed the beneficial effects of the tax cuts on investment and pushed the budget deficit to unprecedented heights .Ironically , it was the enactment of tax cuts unmatched by spending cuts that scared the Fed into a tighter monetary policy . The subsequent recession caused serious budgetary imbalance

In addressing his military goals , Reagan chose to raise...